Mockingjay Part 2

I’ve been putting off writing this blog post for the past few weeks, mainly because I’m still emotional about this film, but also because I didn’t want to give any spoilers away.

But seeing as it’s almost a month after its release I though now was maybe an alright time to start piecing together my opinion.

So, here it is. My review of Lionsgate’s ‘Mockingjay Part Two’.

Where do I start? This is the final instalment in ‘The Hunger Games’ series .. the ACTUAL end. How has it come around already?

The acting was something that particularly surprised me; especially that of the two main actors, Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson.

Both of their characters demanded A LOT of raw emotion. For Jen, Katniss is dealing with leading a rebellion, whilst desperately trying to find a way to get close enough to President Snow to assassinate him. Oh, and also struggling with her husband, Peeta, who’s been “hijacked” to believe she’s an evil mutation .. nice.

And for Josh – his character, Peeta Mellark – as I mentioned above, spends the film struggling with which of his memories are real and which aren’t, after being tortured and brainwashed by the ‘Capitol’. He even tries to kill Katniss a few times (that’s not how to get the girl .. just saying). But Josh manages to capture the emotional confusion of Peeta as he goes from angry and violent, to scared and suicidal.

.. and the fact they both managed to convey their characters to the audience convincingly only increased my appreciation of them as actors.

And, just in case – even after the emotional turmoil already – there was still someone who’s heart wasn’t a little broken .. there were also plenty of deaths.

Katniss’s sister, Prim, dies in an explosion after being sent into the warzone as a medic. A bomb that Katniss later realises was sent by her own people. I didn’t expect to be particularly sad during this scene (brutal, I know), but seeing as it happens near to the end of the film, I was already crying about numerous other things .. so this didn’t exactly help.

But, for me, there was one death that definitely ruined my heart. And when I say ruined I mean, hit by a truck, put in a blender and fed to lions, kind of ruined.

Finnick Odair.

Even when reading this scene in the book, I still cried. So actually seeing his death – which was by lizard mutts – was probably the cruellest thing Lionsgate have ever done.

.. oh, and to make matters worse, you later find out that Annie, the love of his life, was pregnant with his son .. and he never knew .. authors can be such savages when it comes to their characters.

can we appreciate how good Katniss’ eye make up was here .. despite the fact she was about to assassinate someone .. ultimate goals

The only thing the film did lack were scenes between a few characters; mainly how the relationship between Katniss and Johanna changed, and evolved .. though, even a couple of extra Everlark scenes would have been nice.

But overall, this is by far one of the best films in the series. I enjoyed it so much because it was conclusive, it was the end, it was finale of something I have followed for many years; from books to movies. I’ve been to see it twice (oops) and found it just as enthralling each time.